Roads: A14

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people have been killed or seriously injured on the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon; and what is the estimated cost of these accidents in terms of delays and human life.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The number of people killed or seriously injured on the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon over the period 1 October 2002 to 30 September 2005 is set out in the table below. Using the methodology set out in the Department of Transport publication Highways Economics Note No. 1 2004 valuation of the benefits of prevention of road accidents and casualties, the estimated cost of these accidents in terms of human life is further quantified.
	
		
			  
			 No. of Fatal Accidents 3   
			 No. of Serious Accidents 48   
			 No. of Fatal Casualties 4 Cost of Fatal Casualties* £5,537,748 
			 No. of Serious Casualties 53 Cost of Serious Casualties* £8,245,316 
		
	
	* Average value of prevention per casualty by severity and element of cost and based on the figures in the table below.
	
		
			 Injuryseverity£ Lost output£ Medical and ambulance£ Human costs £ Total£ 
			 Fatal 475,922 817 907,698 1,384,437 
			 Serious 18,336 11,108 126,128 155,572 
		
	
	The department does not currently have a published method for measuring the cost of traffic delays caused by accidents and incidents. However, the department is developing a computer program called INCA (incident cost benefit assessment) that can be used to assess the delays and journey time variability associated with incidents and accidents.

Avian Flu

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What precautions have been taken and what plans have been made to prevent an outbreak of avian flu in the United Kingdom.

Lord Bach: The Government are closely following international developments in the spread of the disease and taking action proportionate to the risks. As a temporary measure, all wild bird imports into the EU have been banned. There are also restrictions on gatherings of birds.
	New surveillance arrangements on certain species of migratory water birds are now in place. We have also issued advice on how to improve biosecurity—encouraging bird keepers to feed and water their birds indoors to minimise contact with wild bird populations. We will continue to play a leading role in international initiatives to co-ordinate action.

British Citizenship: Status Letters

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 25 October (WA 169) on the issue of status letters by the Home Office, when they will respond to the letter from the Lord Avebury dated 31 October (ref: P0531107) asking whether a Home Office status letter has been issued to the applicant discussed in that correspondence.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Immigration and Nationality Directorate officials have written to the applicant advising him to refer his claim through the British Consul-General in Hong Kong. This is the correct procedure for dealing with applications and inquiries regarding British nationality made by people living abroad. This ensures that proper checks are carried out. If his claim to British overseas citizenship is accepted then he will be issued with a status letter.

Civil Service: Reduction of Posts

Lord Taylor of Warwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why, in view of their proposal to reduce the state payroll, the number of people working for the Civil Service increased in 2005 from 519,000 to 570,000.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The most recent estimate of Civil Service numbers from ONS is 567,000 (for the third quarter of 2005). At no time in 2005 does ONS record the number of civil servants to have been 519,000. The ONS figure for the first quarter of 2005 is 562,000. As set out in the PBR, the Government have achieved a reduction in Civil Service posts of 31,085 (including 5,771 relocations to front-line delivery) since the start of the 2004 spending review period. For a variety of reasons relating to machinery of government changes and definitional issues, the PBR figures cannot be compared directly to the ONS series.

Armed Forces: Eurofighter Typhoon

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the latest Eurofighter Typhoon financial figures, omitted for reasons of commercial confidence from the National Audit Office annual major projects report, will be made public.

Lord Drayson: The Eurofighter Typhoon financial figures concerned will remain commercially confidential until their release will no longer be prejudicial to the UK's interests.

Extraordinary Rendition Flights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 20 December 2005 (WA 251–52) on rendition flights, what is their interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the Chicago convention.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government believe that their application and interpretation of the Chicago convention is entirely compatible with their other international obligations. The convention is not used to shield from scrutiny acts that would be unlawful under the terms of other international conventions and, for example, does not prevent investigation of aircraft by the police, immigration or customs services, should this be considered necessary.

Gulf War Illnesses

Lord Craig of Radley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they accept the finding of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal concerning the delay by the Ministry of Defence in accepting Gulf War syndrome as the appropriate medical label for symptomatic ill health developed by veterans of the first Gulf War to be over and above that to be expected in the normal course of events.

Lord Drayson: The principal issue raised by veterans claiming Gulf War syndrome before the Martin decision was that it should be recognised as a discrete medical condition. There was, and remains, no scientific basis for doing this and this was confirmed in the Pensions Appeal Tribunal decision. The proposal to use Gulf War syndrome in a broader sense as an "umbrella term" is a new one. We have recognised the need to bring an element of closure for those who have sought some acknowledgement that their ill health is connected to their Gulf service. For this reason we have welcomed the decision that Gulf War syndrome should now be used as an umbrella term covering any recognised medical condition caused by service and connected to the 1990–91 Gulf War.

Indian Citizenship

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will place in the Library of the House the correspondence from the Indian Government agreeing that an Indian minor who acquires British nationality by registration does not lose Indian citizenship as a consequence.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We have not received any such correspondence. Our discussions with the Indian Government in 1997–98 culminated in the issuing by them of two press releases. There is no other correspondence from the Indian authorities on the subject. The two press releases have already been placed in the Library of the House in response to the noble Lord's earlier Questions on the subject.

Inheritance Tax: Property Prices

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What has been the effect of changes in property values on (a) the yield of inheritance tax; and (b) the numbers of people paying the tax in each of the past five years.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: If house prices had remained constant in real terms from the end of 2000–01 (ie, if they had risen in line with inflation), then it is estimated that the effects on inheritance tax yield and taxpayer numbers would be as shown in the tables below. The yield and taxpaying numbers for 2005–06 are those estimated at the time of the Pre-Budget Report.
	
		Inheritance Tax
		
			 Option 1: House prices constant in real terms since 2000–01 
			 PBR505 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
			 Yield (£m) 2,381 2,368 2,521 2,930 3,320 
			 Change in Yield (£m) 
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05  
			 2005–06  
			 Option 1 -50 -200 -400 -600 -800 
			 PBR505 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
			 Taxpayer Numbers 22,500 25,000 30,500 34,000 34,500 
			 Change in Numbers 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
			 Option 1 -1,000 -3,000 -6,000 -10,000 -12,000

Joint Strike Fighter Programme

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What advice they have received from the United States Government over the withdrawal of funding for the development of the Rolls Royce-General Electric variant of the engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.

Lord Drayson: To date no advice has been received by the United Kingdom from the United States Government regarding the withdrawal of funding for the development of the Rolls Royce-General Electric variant engine for the Joint Strike Fighter. The UK Government are aware that the current DoD budget process is considering a wide range of measures. However, the DoD budget is in its early stages of approval and the outcome will not be known until later in the year.

Joint Strike Fighter Programme

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much has been spent on the Joint Strike Fighter to the end of 2005; and how much of this is recoverable in the event of non-delivery of contracted capability.

Lord Drayson: Up to 31 December 2005 the United Kingdom has spent £700 million on the Joint Strike Fighter, of which none is recoverable in the event of non-delivery of contracted capability. The amount represents expenditure for the previous assessment phase and the current system development and demonstration phase, along with UK national work approved by the Ministry of Defence.

Manufacturing Industry: Job Losses

Lord Taylor of Warwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many jobs have been lost in British manufacturing since 1997.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell, dated 17 January 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about manufacturing jobs. (HL3239)
	While statistics of jobs created or lost are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes, in numbers of jobs, from year to year.
	The available statistics show that the number of jobs in the UK manufacturing industry fell by 1.151 million from 4.514 million in June 1997 to 3.363 million in September 2005.
	These estimates, as with any sample survey, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Milk Development Council

Lord Taylor of Warwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the number of staff at the Milk Development Council increased in 2005 from 17 to 44.

Lord Bach: The Milk Development Council (MDC) is an executive non-departmental public body funded by a levy paid by milk producers on all milk sold from their farms in Great Britain.
	The table below shows the average number of employees over the past three financial years together with the present figures. The increase in staff numbers from 17 in 2002-03 to 51 to date is mainly due to the growth of the School Milk Project, which provides facilitators to encourage milk consumption in schools. The MDC now has 14 school milk facilitators, most of whom operate on a part-time basis. The work is also part-funded by dairy processing companies.
	The rise in numbers of extension officers (field-based staff that help to implement the fruits of research and development work on-farm) has been driven by the need to gain better coverage of Great Britain.
	The increase in numbers in office-based staff is a result of a move away from use of external consultants to recruitment of permanent staff in the relevant areas.
	
		
			  Present Average Average Average 
			   2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 
			 Extension Officers 8 6 6 4 
			 School Milk Facilitators 14 (11) 14 (12) 3 (2) – 
			 Other Staff 29 (1) 23 19 13 (1) 
			 Total 51 (12) 43 (12) 28 (2) 17 (l) 
		
	
	Source: Milk Development Council
	Note:
	The numbers in brackets reflect those that are part-time

Ministers of Religion from Abroad

Baroness Cox: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have decided not to proceed with plans to require foreign-born religious leaders who are applying for British citizenship to demonstrate knowledge of British history, culture and institutions; and, if so, for what reason.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: I refer the noble Baroness to the Written Ministerial Statement, 19 December 2005, at col. WS 162 of Lords Hansard. All overseas nationals applying for British citizenship since 1 November 2005 have been required to demonstrate knowledge of life in the UK as well as English. These requirements will continue to apply to ministers of religion in the same way as they do to all other applicants.

National Firearms Licensing Management System

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the live (beta) pilot of the National Firearms Licensing Management System for the Metropolitan Police Service started on 14 November and for the Lancashire Constabulary on 21 November; when they expect the pilots to be concluded; and when they expect the system to go live nationally.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The two beta pilot projects started on the dates given and were concluded on 2 December 2005. The lessons learned are being urgently assessed by the project board which will also look at the implications for rollout nationally.

Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill: Historical Investigations

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in light of the withdrawal of the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill, they will now disband the Royal Military Police historical investigations team.

Lord Drayson: There are no plans to disband the 6th Regiment, Royal Military Police historical and information team, which was established as the focal point in Headquarters Northern Ireland for providing information to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland historical enquiry team review of all Troubles-related deaths.

Passenger Transport Executives and Authorities

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have any plans to review the future roles of passenger transport executives and passenger transport authorities as part of a wider review of local government.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Lyons inquiry is examining the financing and functions of local government, including therefore passenger transport authorities. Likewise they are included in the debate initiated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in summer 2004, which is likely to be drawn together in a White Paper in the summer of 2006.

RAF Shawbury: Industrial Action

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether industrial action at RAF Shawbury has had any effect on training.

Lord Drayson: To date there has been only one day of industrial action at RAF Shawbury and this has not caused disruption to training outputs.

Roads: Accidents

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many deaths and permanent injuries have occurred as a result of motor accidents in the past five years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The number of fatalities and injured casualties in personal injury road accidents involving one or more motor vehicles are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Killed Injured* 
			 2000 3,386 315,782 
			 2001 3,426 308,913 
			 2002 3,413 298,442 
			 2003 3,493 286,266 
			 2004 3,202 276,806 
		
	
	* Includes both seriously and slightly injured.
	Information on whether injuries sustained were permanent is not available.

Sea Cadets

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What support they are giving to Sea Cadet units.

Lord Drayson: The Ministry of Defence sponsors the Marine Society and Sea Cadets, an independent charity governing Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) units affiliated to it. Funding is granted to the Marine Society and Sea Cadets to support the corps infrastructure. This amounted to £8.397 million in financial year 2004–05, comprising funding for the national HQ and training programme, SCC uniformed adult pay, travel costs and pay of RN/Civil Service staff directly involved in the SCC management training. Additional support is provided in the form of boats, training equipment and uniforms, and via the use of naval training establishments and sea training days in HM ships.

Swansea Bay

Lord Oxburgh: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will fulfil the undertaking, made in their response to the report of the Science and Technology Committee, Renewable Energy: Practicalities (4th Report, Session 2003–04, HL Paper 126), to publish a summary of the assessors' report on a proposed tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: It is expected that the report will be published no later than 31 March 2006.

Vehicle Crime Prevention

Lord Brightman: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will consider introducing a voluntary scheme for the additional display of registration numbers on car roofs to assist in the fight against car theft.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government work closely with the police service to reduce vehicle crime and are always prepared to seriously consider any proposals they make. The police have not raised this matter.

Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity, Jim Knight, on 14 December (Official Report, House of Commons, col. 2009W), what facilities will be incorporated into the new Veterinary Laboratories Agency laboratory at Weybridge; how many of those are currently available elsewhere; and whether the new facilities will result in the closure of existing ones.

Lord Bach: The building projects currently under way at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) at Weybridge are part of a long overdue site redevelopment programme, designed to bring the ageing facilities up-to-date so that VLA can continue to provide the statutory and emergency services that Defra requires.
	VLA has a number of specialised facilities for work on pathogens dangerous to man. Prior to the redevelopment these were mainly provided in temporary buildings, or in buildings old and unsuitable that could not be adequately maintained to meet the required safety standards. Furthermore, much of VLA's animal accommodation was many years old and unable to meet the current Home Office standards.
	None of the new facilities was available elsewhere within VLA's estate and, beyond the planned demolitions of those buildings vacated as a result of the redevelopment, no closures of existing facilities is planned.
	So far the redevelopment has provided:
	a new laboratory housing a centralised serology testing facility, which Defra requires VLA to maintain in case of an future outbreak of foot and mouth disease or other exotic animal disease; and ACDP containment levels 2 and 3 laboratories for research and diagnosis work on tuberculosis;
	new accommodation for farm livestock to house cattle, sheep, pigs and goats to support a wide range of research work; and
	a new "headquarters" building to house an emergency animal surgery, and pharmacy as well as the staff who manage VLA's animal services.